Rosalie’s
landlord was stealing her electricity. He was tapping into it while building a
new unit in the backyard area. Believe it or not, this is a big problem. I have
heard complaints of this nature before. Everyone knows the cost of power has
gone through the roof. Pensioners are rugging up because they can’t afford to
pay their bills. The Grattan Institute has been doing some really interesting
work on this subject. In their view, Aussies are paying too much for power. In
the last five years, the average bill has risen by about 70%. This has been
attributed to the Gillard’s carbon pricing reforms, when really it’s the price-gouging
operators. So basically, it’s really important that tenants are charged fairly
and accurately for their power consumption.
So
Rosalie went to her property manager and complained. The property manager
proposed that the bill be split with the landlord. She says to Rosalie, ‘Just
give me the bills, I know how to work it out. I do it all the time’. Do they
take tenants for fools? Rosalie knows her rights. The Residential Tenancies Act
1997 (Vic) is very clear. In cases like this, the landlord is to take full
financial responsibility. There is a very clear policy reason. It is unfair on
tenants to pay when their exact power usage can’t be determined. With respect
to rented premises, there must be a separate meter. Section 52 states:
A tenant is liable for all charges in respect
of the supply or use of electricity, gas or oil in respect of the tenant's
occupation of rented premises that are separately
metered...
This
is what Rosalie has to say:
They have no right asking to look at the
bills but they do and I imagine tenants not fully knowing their rights just
hand over their private bills. It’s bullying. I spoke to a lot of electrical
technicians, AGL, sparkies, engineers, and REIV - they all said that there is
no way that anyone can work the bills out or split them accurately, that’s why
the owner has to take it over. I didn't hand over my bills; I just wanted the
owner to comply with the Act from the day the connection was made.
The
plot thickens. Rosalie decided to go to tribunal. The tribunal member tells
Rosalie’s landlord to credit her bill. So the landlord has turned around and
evicted her.
...when the member at VCAT also tried to work
it out I nearly died. So the tribunal member tells the owner to credit me $500
for the first 3 months and then to credit me $100 per month after that until
the construction is finished. But get this one - Now I’ve been given notice to
vacate - 'owner to renovate' - which means that I won’t get to make good use of
the credits. Now the owner is using my power to run a cement mixer because he's
putting up the new fence. So now he’s just taking all the power he wants and I
feel helpless to do anything about it.
It’s
not like he’s living next door, he’s building a bloody house! I am seriously
concerned about how VCAT treats tenants. Out of all the states and territories,
Victoria is notorious for its treatment of tenants. The President of VCAT
agrees that there is a problem. In a 2009 report, he says there are “serious
deficiencies” in the accessibility of justice to the Victorian community,
particularly tenants. He says:
In the residential tenancies jurisdiction,
the tribunal has been very successful in delivering access to justice to
landlords, but tenants are not exercising their rights to the same extent.
About 95% of applications are initiated by landlords, most of them online.
About 80% of those go ahead undefended without the tenant appearing at the
hearing.
On
our Facebook page, there are tenants,
property managers, and some landlords. The tenants say the tribunal is biased
in favour of landlords, the landlords say tenants have all the rights. Well,
this is a very real and concrete example of unfair treatment. The law is
not protecting tenants from exploitation. It’s not only the law; it’s also the
way the tribunals and courts deal with matters.
There is this thing called the rule of law. Everyone is supposed to be treated equally. And I don’t think tenants are treated equally.So stay tuned, we will bring you more on this saga. We might even name and shame...
There is this thing called the rule of law. Everyone is supposed to be treated equally. And I don’t think tenants are treated equally.
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